MST3K 310 - Fugitive Alien
The Movie Synopsis A deadly Star Wolf warrior named Ken from the planet Valna Star takes part in an attack on Earth. After disobeying orders and accidentally killing his best friend (a fellow Star Wolf), Ken becomes a fugitive alien rescued by the Earth starship the Bacchus 3. The crew of the Bacchus 3 includes alcoholic Captain Joe, Rocky the pilot, navigator Dan, Billy, and Tammy. Ken joins the Bacchus 3 team at Captain Joe’s invitation. At first, Rocky distrusts Ken, but later they become friends. Tammy has an unrequited crush on Ken. Meanwhile, Ken’s girlfriend Rita, who is also the sister of the Star Wolf that Ken killed, is ordered by Valna Star ruler Lord Halkon to avenge her brother's death by finding and killing Ken. The Bacchus 3 visits the planet Kararan. Ken leaves the ship, and gets himself thrown in prison. Via two-way radio, Captain Joe orders Ken to find a Colonel from the planet Saysar in the same prison and break him out. After accomplishing this mission, Ken runs into Rita. Rita still loves Ken, so she can’t bring herself to kill him. Rita is then killed when she and Ken are attacked by Kararan guards. Ken and the Saysarean Colonel make it back to the Bacchus 3. "To Be Continued" in episode 318, Star Force: Fugitive Alien II. Information See Episode K12 *The film was combined from episodes of a Japanese sci-fi series based on the Star Wolf series of novels by Edmond Hamilton. The Episode Host Segments Prologue: Joel starts up a farm by dressing up the Bots. They aren't too happy. Segment One (Invention Exchange): Joel makes a chair/xylophone, and Frank is nearly drowned by the Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Dropper. Then Jack Perkins introduces the episode! Segment Two: Joel and the Bots throw a Fugitive Alien-based hat party that ends up making fun of the Mads. Segment Three: Joel wants to reenact a scene from the film with himself as a crazed Captain Joe. Segment Four: Joel uses Syd Field's Screenplay Model to attempt to explain the plot of Fugitive Alien. Segment Five: Joel explains what all the new buttons on his jumpsuit do, a viewer attempts to guess the "cool thing" from many episodes back, and the Mads prepare Jack Perkins for his final fate. Stinger: Captain Joe is sensitive to Ken's needs, "AHAHAHAHA....you’re STUCK HERE!" Guest Stars *''Jack Perkins: Michael J. Nelson Trivia * Crow and Servo's song "He tried to kill me with a forklift!", sung to the theme music of the film, has since become one of MST3K's most memorable lines. Servo sang it again later in ''Star Force: Fugitive Alien II. **A notable instrumental (actually part of the original Japanese theme for the show, Seishun no Tabidachi and used notably for the Forklift Song) is introduced during the "two Kens" sketch before it's even used in the movie. * Reference is made in this episode to the movie "Marooned", which actually became one of the experiments for the following season (under its alternate title of Space Travelers). * Escape Velocity: In the 1996 space trading and combat video game from Ambrosia Software, there is an easter egg that allows a player to unlock a sound byte of the forklift song, as well as a special weapon that fires a forklift. * This episode aired twefth during Turkey Day '91. *The console monitor in Deep 13 changes with this episode, switching from a purple monitor with a bright yellow Gizmonic G on it, to a gray one with an embedded raised Gizmonic G on the back. Callbacks * "Third planet from the sun shall be called…Earth" (Women of the Prehistoric Planet) * a reference to the "geometric nucleus" (Cave Dwellers) * "It was after the…Robot Holocaust" * "I was in Time of the Apes!" * "…and a good friend" (Rocketship X-M) * "Trumpy, you’re stinky!" (Pod People) * "Hi-keeba!" (Women of the Prehistoric Planet) * "Hey, like the Wild Rebels!" * "This must be the in the blank…I’ve heard them talk about…so much…lately?" (Gamera) * "Rock climbing, Joel." (Lost Continent). Obscure References *''"Then Joyce Carol Oates will be out to read from her wondrous new work of fiction, her first novel in well over a month."'' Novelist Joyce Carol Oates is known for being very prolific for a "literary" writer, publishing over 40 novels and many other short stories and essays. *''"He's in more trouble than Hudson Hawk at the box office!"'' Hudson Hawk was an under-performing action movie from 1991, starring Bruce Willis (who also co-wrote). Due to bad reviews and word of mouth, the movie lost a significant amount of money, helping clinch the TriStar Pictures sale/merge with Columbia. * "It's Heckraiser!" The bald-headed villain of the movie looks rather like the villain of the Hellraiser ''horror film series (note that the character is actually named "Pinhead," however). *"It's the Geometric Nucleus!"'' The plot of Cave Dwellers revolved around a "Geometric Nucleus". *''"I know what to do. I'll sneak out of here disguised as Chad Everett."'' Chad Everett is best known for his role on the CBS drama "Medical Center". *''"I'm sorry, I was thinking of the eighth hole at Torrey Pines."'' Torrey Pines golf course in San Diego is considered one of the best and most scenic courses in the country, no mean feat for a city-owned facility. *''"Monty Python's Flying Circussss!"'' - Crow T. Robot Crow makes fun of the background music, which has a similar style to the opening theme song from "Monty Python's Flying Circus". The quote is from the opening animation sequence. *''"Rocky!" "AGAIN?" - Crow T. Robot Crow says "again" in a high pitch feminine voice, almost exactly like Rocky from ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. *''"Killdozer! Clint Walker, NO!!!"'' Killdozer is a short story by Theodore Sturgeon about a bulldozer that develops a violent mind of its own. In 1974, it was adapted as a made-for-TV movie starring Clint Walker. *''"He's my mother! He's my sister! He's my mother and my sister!"'' A parody of a line from the movie Chinatown. *''"Tell me spirit, are these shadows of things that must be or which might be?" - Tom Servo as the captain approaches his family's grave'' Servo quotes Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Scrooge asks this when faced with a vision of his own grave. *''"It's the twenty-seven 8x10 color glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one." - Servo as the capitain has a photographic flashback of his family'' This is a line from popular midwestern folk artist Arlo Guthrie's song, "Alice's Restauraunt". The glossy photos in question were supposedly taken of the "scene of the crime" where Arlo and his friends had dumped a half a ton of garbage, and were "to be used as evidence against them." *''"Everybody run, Tammy's got a gun."'' A reference to a song by comic performer Julie Brown called "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun". *''"Top of the world, ma."'' A quote from the end of the James Cagney movie White Heat . *''"Hey, Chris Walken's playing russian roulette!"'' ''A reference to a scene in the movie ''The Deer Hunter. *''"When I talk to Ken I touch myself."'' A riff on lyrics to the Divinyls 1991 single "I Touch Myself ." *''"What manner of man are you, who can summon flame without flint or tinder?"'' A quote from'' Monty Python & the Holy Grail'' , asked of Tim the enchanter. *''"I can't kill the man I love!" "Then kill the one you're with."'' A slight variation on lines from Stephen Stills' song "Love the One You're With": "If you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with." *''"This ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around."'' Joel is quoting the Talking Heads song "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_During_Wartime_(song) Life During Wartime]." Video releases *Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in July 2012 as part of Volume XXIV, a 4-disc set along with Star Force: Fugitive Alien II, The Sword and the Dragon, and Samson vs. the Vampire Women. **The DVD includes an introduction by August Ragone and MST Hour wraps. *Available for rent or purchase on Amazon's streaming service. See also MST3K K12 - Fugitive Alien Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:'As Seen on TV' Category:Foreign Film Category:1970s movies Category:Mystery Science Theater Hour Episodes Category:Unrated movies Category:Star Trek spoofs Category:Movies riffed multiple times Category:Film adaptations Category:Space travel films